Invisible Scars
by hpkiwi
Summary: Ginny has a nightmarish flashback to her experiences fighting during the Battle of Hogwarts, rewitnessing the deaths of Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks and Colin Creevey. She subsequently has a little comforting chat with the still guilt-ridden Percy, and the siblings form a closer bond as a result. Rated T for battle violence, language and mature themes.


_A/N:_

_This story was inspired by the fic **Not From Others**, by **FloreatCastellum**. Following Ginny, the DA and the Weasleys around during the year the Carrows were in charge and the Battle of Hogwarts, it's a fantastic read, visceral, realistically in character, and quite devastating when it comes to the deaths during the battle. It gave me an idea of writing a fic where the bossiest Weasley sibling and the youngest engage after the war and continue the process of recovering from the trauma. Hope you approve of my version of Ginny recovering from the memories of fighting and witnessing the deaths of Lupin, Tonks and Colin._

_Invisible Scars_

This had to end soon, Ginny thought grimly as she ducked out of the way of a troll's club, pausing only to grab Colin's hand as he brushed himself off. As Ginny watched, a volley of Stunning Spells and a flash of silver soared over her head. With a cry, Padma Patil and Jack Sloper fell; an ashen-faced Seamus and a limping Cormac McLaggen rushed to their aid.

"Ginny, go!" bellowed Colin, rushing over to the group. "Cormac doesn't have a wand, I'll cover them." As he rushed off, Ginny paused, looking as to how she could assist.

A rumbling sound alerted her to the danger. As she looked up, the balustrade above her crumbled as one of Voldemort's giants hungrily attempted to snatch fighters from the floor above. This called for immediate action.

"SECTUMSEMPRA!" she bellowed, aiming her wand at the giant's face. A deep slash opened on its left cheek and blood droplets the size of hailstones peppered the wrecked courtyard as fighters, friendly and foe alike ran for cover. As a rain of glass fell before her, nastily injuring Susan Bones, Neville let out a yell as Ginny raised her wand again.

"GINNY, DON'T!"

And then she heard the familiar voices of her brother and Hermione, far off in the distance. As much as she worried for them and Harry, she had far higher priorities on her mind right now….

"Got any ideas, Nev?" she asked, eyeing the monstrous apparition before her with trepidation. "Other than being giant bait?"

"Not really!" Neville admitted; he had to bellow over the din of the battle, as with a cascading boom, the clock-tower slowly began to disintegrate.

The giant had locked eyes on the pair of them, and Ginny aimed her wand again.

"CONFRINGO!"

"Stupefy!" bellowed Neville. Other shouts joined in as Colin, Seamus and Demelza rushed to them.

"Stupefy!"

"Crucio!"

"Incendio!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

No surprise there, they needed to _mean it_, and what good was a failed Killing Curse against a giant, anyway?

"LONGBOTTOM!"

Bellatrix's mad, sadistic glee was identifiable even from a hundred feet away. Neville paled slightly, but after quickly scanning their immediate vicinity, only had eyes for the giant that was about to crush them all.

"RUN!" Ginny cried out, shoving Demelza roughly to the side as its foot left a deep crater where her friend's head had been barely a second before. "Everyone, Stun it on the count of three! One, two, NOW!"

The combined, simultaneous spells achieved what their individual efforts alone had not; the giant let out a final deep, barreling rumble as its eyes closed, almost peacefully, and toppled sideways, falling with a sickening crunch onto five Death Eaters that were dueling Kingsley and Flitwick.

"Great job!" called out Kingsley. "Keep watching each other's backs." He turned to face another challenger, but was promptly blown off his feet as Bellatrix Lestrange leapt over the fallen Giant, cackling gleefully. Neville ran at her, and Ginny was about to follow, to pay her back for Hermione, Sirius and Neville's parents, when with a cry, Jimmy Peakes fell beside Demelza.

"JIMMY!" the other girl screamed, only to fall herself as a flash of red hit her. Crouching as low as possible, painfully aware of her vulnerability, Ginny crawled towards Demelza's still form, and pointing her wand squarely at her heart, whispered "Rennervate."

Demelza let out a gasp as she revived, turning to Jimmy, who was feebly stirring. Blood was soaking his robes from a wound above his left knee.

"What happened?" he muttered lazily, squinting and looking thoroughly pitch-drunk as he scanned Ginny and Demelza's faces. "We all still fighting, or what?"

"Oh, Jimmy!" Demelza embraced him tightly, then relinquished her grip slightly, her lips hovering barely an inch over his, until Ginny cleared her throat and called out.

"Oi, there's a war going on!" She lowered her voice as she crouched behind the small pile of rubble that was shielding him from future curses towards her old Quidditch teammates. "Demelza, keep an eye out and defend him until we can get him inside. Hannah and Madam Pomfrey will clean him up in no time," she said, with a confidence that she wished she truly possessed.

She got to her feet, and felt her blood run cold as she heard that cackle again. Running to assist Neville, her blood ran cold as she saw Neville disarmed of his wand.

"Say hi to Mummy and Daddy for me!" taunted Bellatrix, raising her wand. "CRUCIO!"

Neville let out a scream that tore at her innards, and fiery rage erupted in Ginny's veins as she raised her wand. Bellatrix was paying no-one else any attention but her victim.

"Confringo!"

Bellatrix was knocked off her feet, but her hastily-produced Shield Charm had protected her from the worst effects of Ginny's Blasting Curse. With the lifting of the Cruciatus Neville lay still in the rubble, panting silently.

Bellatrix cackled at her again, showing rotting teeth.

"The Weasley girl! Even better! Wonder how much your boyfriend will cry when he sees I've-"

With an inhuman cry of rage, Ginny followed up.

"CRUCIO!"

Bellatrix screamed as she was knocked flat on her back, but even with rage coursing through her, Ginny was unable to keep Bellatrix writhing for more than a few seconds.

"Wotcher Ginny! Take care of Neville, I'll handle this," called out Tonks from behind her with false confidence, though Ginny saw that there were tear-tracks lining her face.

"Tonks! Are you okay, have you seen Remus yet…"

"I'm right here," came the surprisingly casual voice of her favourite Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. "Dora, thank Merlin you're all right…"

"I'm fine," said Tonks, impatiently waving her hand as her grey hair turned to a far merrier blonde. "Now, what about fighting this war together, Remus?"

"Dora, watch out!" her husband cried, as Tonks hastily cast a Shield Charm, deflecting Bellatrix's blow, while he turned and cast a silver curse at Dolohov. Ginny leapt to her feet, unsure whom to fight first – the killer of her uncles, or Bellatrix?

"Ginny, go!" Tonks yelled, not breaking concentration even as she gripped Remus' spare hand with her own. Protect Neville while he recovers."

As Ginny crawled over to her friend, casting a Shield Charm over the only faintly conscious Neville, she watched in a detached manner the double duel even as her hair stood on end form the power of the curses all four combatants were casting.

"Thanks," said Neville weakly. "Just remember what we said. Kill her and the others if we have to; I don't care. But no Crucia-"

"I know," Ginny acknowledged, feeling slightly ashamed at her loss of control. "I guess I didn't really _mean_ it, though."

Neville gingerly got to his feet, and grabbed his discarded wand, shaking his head lazily. "You okay now?" she queried, linking his arm with hers.

Neville nodded.

At that, Dolohov broke from his usual volley of Stunning Spells, and made a slashing motion with his wand. A streak of purple flames erupted up Remus' chest, and with an almost anticlimactic groan, he fell, his hand clutching uselessly at his heart.

"REMUS!" Tonks' cry pierced Ginny's heart like an arrow as she turned to face her fallen husband, but Ginny still had the state of mind to know what would happen next.

"No, Tonks!" she cried out, even as Bellatrix, with a triumphant grin, also slashed her wand. The Killing Curse hit the young Auror squarely on the chest, and she crumpled, her left hand arm still interlocked with Remus' right.

To Ginny, it felt as if the battle was continuing on underwater, the sounds all muffled. She stared at the crumpled form of her friend for just a moment, unable to process the loss yet, and then back at Bellatrix, who gave her a sickly grin and wave, before Disapparating.

"Ginny, come on!" Neville sound lucid and focused once again, and she made her way into the heart of the battle, shooting curses at an Acromantula along with Parvati and Ernie until its ugly form stopped twitching. She barely even knew what she was doing. Almost instinctively, her hexes and jinxes were hitting Death Eaters left, right and centre.

She saw Colin and Cormac McLaggen, fighting alongside Hannah Abbott, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Susan Bones; the latter still bearing the lacerations caused by the falling glass from earlier. She was astonished at the sight of the wandless McLaggen, taking hits from minor jinxes and shrugging them off, while punching any Death Eaters within reach; they were mostly distracted by the group of Hufflepuff DA members.

Suddenly, a hex fell McLaggen, and a masked Death Eater, with the malicious confidence of a big cat about to pounce on its wounded prey, approached him.

"No!" she yelled as she ran forwards, but Colin, being beside McLaggen, was faster. With surprising force for his tiny size, he tackled McLaggen, just as the anonymous Death Eater's Killing Curse hit him at point blank range. He fell pathetically and slumped over McLaggen's chest, his face frozen in grim determination.

"COLIN!"

Her voice wasn't the only one that echoed throughout the courtyard as she leapt forwards towards the group huddled near the remains of the giant bell, but before she could utter a curse to avenge her friend, McLaggen had grabbed Colin's wand, and with palpable fury and bloodlust, cried out "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

The jet of green hit the Death Eater's face; he was propelled into the nearest wall with enough force to knock several bricks out, wedging there for a moment, before falling with a sickening crunch.

Four more Death Eaters arrived on the scene, and one proceeded to blast Ernie off his feet with a Stunning Spell.

With the memory of the murders of Remus and Tonks and the sight of Colin's body before her fueling her thirst for vengeance and wiping out all fear for the time being, Ginny had reached the end of her tether.

"REDUCTO!" she cried, and Justin pulled Susan away from the path of her curse as she scored a direct hit on the Death Eater. There was a flash so powerful Ginny had to shield her eyes, and McLaggen, Ernie and Justin were pummeled with chunks of debris. Coughing, Ginny got to her feet, scanning for threats behind the clouds of dust her curse had triggered.

She could see three prone figures in black robes – either unconscious or dead. Where the lead Death Eater had been standing, there was nothing. Nothing except a small, grey pile of ash and grey flecks.

Feeling quite nauseous all of a sudden, Ginny rushed forwards towards the group and Colin's body. Choking on the ashy cloud, she wiped her streaming eyes. "You okay?" she spluttered to Justin. He nodded, as the now-revived Ernie patted her on the back in appreciation. But now she only had eyes for the still figure beside McLaggen, who now rushed after the others.

"Colin?" The hot stinging sensation behind her eyes had returned, but for the time being, the sobs were being kept at bay. This had to be a joke. He'd survived an encounter with the Serpent of Slytherin itself, one of the most dangerous creatures known to wizardkind, and yet here he lay, like a rag-doll.

"Ginny!" Oliver Wood's grip was firm, though she noticed his arms were shaking. "Come on…let's get you away."

"Oliver?" she choked, putting up no resistance as the former Gryfifndor Captain eased her away. "I thought you were attacking from the air?"

"We were," sighed Oliver; Ginny had never heard him sound so defeated. But a curse hit Katie – she….she fell off her broom."

Even with so much pain and loss around her, Ginny's heart skipped a beat.

"Is she…is she-"

"She's alive," Oliver said with a sigh. "She's pretty banged up, will be a bloody miracle if she ever walks again, though. Had to get her inside. Let's get you in there, it's safer…"

But Ginny didn't want that to happen. She wanted to keep fighting, to punish those who were causing so much mayhem and grief….

...

She woke with a start, and flung her arm out to grab Harry, only for her arm fell onto a spare pillow. Then she remembered. It was six days before Christmas, and Harry wasn't due to arrive back at the Burrow for another three. And Hermione was staying the night at her parents', determinedly repairing the relationships that had become so fractured after she'd found them in Australia.

She made her way down to the Kitchen to pour herself a glass of water. The entire family had these moments, she knew. Thankfully, this flashback had been interrupted before she'd got to see Fred dead once again, or relive the agony of believing Harry was dead. She sighed as she looked at the family clock. Even now, more than seven months after they'd found Fred's hand had fallen off, the sight of Fred's missing hand hurt. She looked out at the moonlit garden, and saw Percy beside the small pond near the chicken coop.

Her relationship with Percy had never been a particularly close one; he was the bossiest brother, always, and it had taken her a great deal of effort for her to forgive him for his running away. How dare he not believe Harry, after what she'd gone through at the hands of Riddle in her first year?

But forgiven him Ginny had.

"Hey Perce," she whispered, as she approached his still form. "You had another one, too?"

Percy nodded stiffly, and pushed his horn-rimmed glasses further up the bridge of his nose, gulping as he looked to his left at Fred's nearby grave.

"I've told you before," she said quietly, her eyes drawn to a couple of frolicking gnomes on the other side of the pond. "It's not your fault."

Percy let out a sniff.

"It is, Ginny! I didn't tell Mum, but I've told you, and both Ron and George know. I cracked a joke while I was hexing Thicknesse! I distracted him! Then that wall fell, and…."

"Oh, for fuck's sake…."

"Ginevra…."

"Give me a bloody break, Perce. We've been over this. Did George have a go at you again?" she queried hesitantly, her fire vanishing as she saw Percy wiping a solitary tear from his cheek.

"No," he said. "He did just after the funeral, but he very quickly apologized, and made it clear he didn't mean it."

"Too right," Ginny nodded.

"But it still doesn't stop me from being guilty. Not just about that. About leaving the family…."

"Perce, we've moved on."

"…About my actions after Fred's death."

Ginny shuddered in spite of herself. Percy had previously described for her how he'd knocked down Travers with a powerful curse, then bashed his skull in for good measure with a discarded brick.

"Did it make you feel any better?" she whispered tentatively. "When you killed that Death Eater who killed Fred?"

Percy shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah…at the time. I'm not proud of what happened, though."

Ginny remembered her Reductor Curse that had completely disintegrated a Death Eater, propelled by the fury, grief and terror after losing Remus, Tonks and Colin. She remembered McLaggen's successful use of Avada Kedavra, of Ron and Neville's curses throwing Greyback out the window of the Great Hall. Of her mother's defeat of Bellatrix. To some degree, it still frightened her, what she and her loved ones were capable of when their backs were against a wall. But….

"It was war," she muttered, straining to pat Percy on the shoulder. "You're not a murderer, Perce. Not in the true sense of the word."

As Percy still stood, clearly on edge, Ginny took his hand.

"Come on, sit down." Percy hesitated, but followed her lead.

"Even if you did distract him," she whispered, "Travers cast the curse that sent that wall falling onto him. It's about as logical as if I were to blame Remus for killing Tonks by getting himself killed and distracting her. Get it?"

Percy let out a low, dark chuckle.

"Besides, he went out _laughing_. Not in pain, not frightened at all. He was glad to have you back, Perce. We all were, and all are." A lump formed in her throat, but she irritably brushed it away. Now was not the time.

"So, congratulations on your appointment," Percy said from beside her. Ginny could tell he was smiling. "Never got the opportunity to say it to you in private."

"Bollocks, it's because you've been avoiding us…."

"Language, young lady."

She stuck her tongue out at him, and she heard his exasperated sigh.

"_Children_," he muttered.

"I'm seventeen!"

"I know, I was just winding you up."

Ginny raised an eyebrow. "Keep spending time with George," she whispered, "and you might even develop a decent sense of humour sometime in the next half-century. And thanks," she added, genuinely touched in spite of the ribbing. "Being Teddy's Godmother is kind of challenging, but fun. It was ages before Andromeda found Tonks' will, and it named me. She said it was highly appropriate that it was me…"

"At least it means you and Harry stop mauling each other," said Percy irritably, to which Ginny let out a peal of laughter.

"You're one to talk Perce, considering when I walked on you and _Penny _in my first year…"

"Ginny, I'm warning you."

"…you acted like you'd been caught with your pants down," she finished, elbowing Percy in the ribs and still chortling.

"You're one to talk," snapped Percy. "Ron was in a real mood when he found out after Harry's eighteenth that you had…..er….never mind," he tailed off, his voiced tinged with nausea, to which Ginny both blushed and grinned a little. If their encounter on Harry's seventeenth (planned with Hermione, of course) had been intended to let him know how much he meant to her, then this birthday's encounter had been a means of…cheering him up.

And she'd thoroughly enjoyed 'cheering him up.'

"You bringing Audrey?" she queried, deciding it was best to move on from topics that would disgust Percy and his brotherly instincts.

Percy nodded.

"Looking forward to meeting her, Perce. I'm happy for you. We all are."

Percy turned to her, and Ginny could see that he was beaming.

"Thanks, Ginny."

"Anytime," she replied.

Her family had suffered the loss of Fred, and they'd never be the same again. But she wasn't going to deny that the return of their family's black sheep had pleased her. They'd all suffered invisible scars, unlike the visible ones of Ron and Harry, but with assistance from the rest of the family, they would all heal.

Together.

_A/N: Disclaimer: my use of "Oi, there's a war going on!" by Ginny was a deliberate wink and nudge to Harry's use with Ron and Hermione. Naturally. _


End file.
